War of the rites
by IdiosyncraticFrogger
Summary: Secoria was a land of giant trees and magic. It was once a raging land that had ten factions as most of these stories do. The factions fought for power, a power. The strongest power in this world. It was called 'The War of the Rites'. It was during these times that the small folk referred to as the last days of light, and it would be the undoing of their world.
1. Chapter 1

**_The Shadow Lands _**

The Shadow Tree stood taller than all of the others. It towered over the vast land with a sense of impending doom. No light passed through its leaves, no light hit its bark. The Southern air rippled with the chanting that came from base of the tree. Its worshippers cried out their love for it as a single woman lain in the middle of the circle at the base. The wailing of the woman was one of agony and pain as she tried to breathe, only for her body to contract again. The chanting grew louder as the woman gave a great push and the cries of a babe covered in shadows was removed from its mother's womb.

"The Child of Shadows has been born!" The Leader cried loudly as the people around them cheered in triumph. "The Child that will save our way of life is here!"

**A/N: Okay so starting something new. This story will be told in drabbles. We'll see if I will continue this or not. Hope you all like it. **

**P.S. Wrote this while I was watching Halo:Nightfall...strange right?...Hope you all really like it. Remember Drabble series.**


	2. Chapter 1: Lahote River

**_The Northern Sea_**

Paul Lahote watched as the water flowed slowly from the palm of his tan hand toward the rest of the river that he had been named for. His icy blues watched as the water flowed slowly before his dark blond bangs obscured his view of the river. His breath huffed from his full lips as he clicked his tongue to the rhythm of the water that dripped into the larger body of water. The furs around his arm only kept the chill at bay for a `moment before his body would freeze once more. At age fifteen, Paul was the top healer in the Valley. He took pride in the fact that he could do so much for his people. He stood up and looked around. A stretch heard his back pop from staying in a crouched position for so long. At only fifteen his height had already surpassed his father's. Paul looked to the river and smiled thoughtfully. The Paulus River was the main source of water that flowed through the Valley Crescent. No matter which way you looked you'd see the Northern Mountains surrounded you. Beyond those mountains was the Green Sea, for which his people had been named. The Valley was warmer than the mountains, but still no matter what season you were in, your breath could still be seen. A shiver ran through his body before he released his hold on the water. He wasn't sure if his being out here was divine intervention of just his curious nature, but drawn here he was. Drawn to the river that birthed his people from nothingness. He turned away from the river to look at the mouth of the mountains that the road came from. His eyes watched as a shadow crept up to the entrance only to back away quickly.

He moved silently and made his way up to the road. His curiosity spurred him further than his fear of anything. His icy blue eyes followed the pattern that the shadow made as it zigged its way around the entrance of the mouth. Entranced he moved to the side of the mountain face that stood to the right. He watched with amazement as the shadow danced once more. It wasn't until the shadow stopped that Paul froze in place. He could feel its eyes on his person as the hair on the back of neck stood up straight.

He could see the whites of the eyes as they stared at him from below.

He shook off his fear and jumped from his spot to just inside of the road. Shadows could not pass the threshold of the mountain, he knew. He knew this shadow would try to gain favor with him. "Who are you?" He demanded, his voice slick, like the water he grew up in.

"The child has been born." The dark, deep raspy voice replied. "The Child of Shadows has been born."

Paul froze in his spot before the shadow dispersed and he stared into nothing. The child of prophecy had been born. The Child that would bring shadows to the world. He turned quickly and ran toward the head of the Valley's home.

**A/N: Chapter 1 is done...Here you are. We'll see how my little story goes.**


	3. Chapter 2: The wind

**The Western Caverns**

Bella Swan closed her eyes as the air of the west caressed her skin. Her dark green clothes waft to and fro as her jet black hair scattered around her. She moved her fair porcelain fingers through the wind as if she caressed a lover. She let a small smile grace her face as the felt the push and pull of the wind her people worshipped so much. Her time with her friends had been cut short as a feeling had overcome her and she was on her way to the very cliff she now stood. Of her eighteen years she dared not to leave the safety of her home, but it was also a dream to see more of the world. The training of the day had barely begun, but the wind called her forward and urged her to show herself at the cliffs edge. Her eyes scanned over the mountains that held her family captive. No, that wasn't quite right, not captive, in safety. She paced along the edge and thought of the stories she had once been told of her home before the War of the Rites had been waged. The shadow Rites had been pushed back to their land of no light. The blood clans had been pushed east. The Earth Rites pushed to the further south than the shadowlands. Her education on the War of Rites had been all but seared into her skin from her mother and father. Two people who had fought in that war almost twenty years ago. Her mind wandered to the North and her eyes followed. The Northern Mountains were even more treacherous than her own. She did not see how the Green People lived in that climate so easily. She could only stand some of the cold. Year round would be not worth it. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the open air of the cliff in front of her.

She stood on the rock face that opened to nothing but blue skies and waited. Waited for something, she was unsure of what she waited for, but a breath on the wind spoke of something chilling. Her emerald green eyes glanced to and fro as a chill ran up her spine. Not a sound was heard before her head swiveled to the left and she saw the shadow.

_A messenger?_ She wondered before she approached the creature.

"What have you to report?" She asked, her voice whistled like the wind.

"The child has been born. The one steeped in shadows and knows no light, the child of prophecy is born." It rasped as it danced around in its spot. "You will all reap what you've sown."

The promise it held was one of torture and pain. She knew better than to really speak to the shadow as it consumes the darker parts of your soul. For that's all that shadow magic was, the black part of the soul.

She watched as it disappeared. Her heart full of terror as her mind raced back to the days that her parents had warned her of. She turned quickly and moved her arms to speed herself forward.

**A/N: And more introductions to come. Chapter 2 done...yay**


	4. Chapter 3: Blood Magic

**The East**

**Eden's Canyon**

Sam swallowed harshly as his mouth turned dry from the constant intake of air. A shimmer of sweat washed over his brow as he concentrated on his target. A young man that had done his youngest sister wrong. His need for revenge fueled by his little Ayana's tears grew even further. He pricked his thumb and ran it across the stone carving he had made days earlier. The likeness of the boy in every shape and form printed before him in perfect etching. He spoke words known only to his people and with determination a cry outside was heard. The cries of those around his target screamed and ran.

Finally his Rites were done. He pulled a cloth from his hip and wiped away all his excess sweat. He turned his ears to the screams outside and a small smile graced his face. Now his little Ayana had been avenged from the misdeeds of that boy.

Twenty-four year old Sam stood from his stooped position and moved toward the curtained doorway. With one swift move he pushed it aside and exited into the bright sunny day.

The boy still screamed and others looked on him in disgust.

"What did I do?" The boy screamed out.

It was at that moment Sam made himself be heard. "You poisoned my sister's womb. She can no longer bare children because of you. Now she will live childless and so will you." His voice deep and gruff.

Ayana looked on in coldness as her eyes glanced down at the boy that was once her lover. "You get what you deserve. No more, no less." Her voice colder than the ice of the Green Sea.

"Ayana I love you. How could you allow him to do this?" The boy screamed as he rested his hands over his penis, or rather where it used to be.

"Because he loves me and he shows it through his actions. My brother has always been there. He is my hero and my protector. You called me worthless and now only you are." Ayana spat as she moved to stand next to her elder brother.

Ayana felt a hand on her shoulder and saw that her two eldest sisters, Layaana and Kavari, and other elder brother stood behind them with cold blood red eyes on the boy in front of them. She knew her brothers and sisters would stand beside her. She knew through it all Sam would keep them safe.

Just as they all decided that they did all they could Sam placed his arm around Ayana's shoulders and moved his siblings back the way they came. Before he could move to the curtain to go into their family hut something called to him. He looked toward the edge of the cliffs where the canyons broke through the land. It was the barrier and he knew he had to go. With a look to all his family he motioned for them all to go inside. He took hold of his younger brother, Salen's arm. His brother looked to him in question before Sam answered the question that burned in his eyes. "Watch over them and I'll return soon. Something calls me away and I am indeed late for a meeting. With whom I do not know." He explained as best as he could. Salen just gave him a look before he gave a nod and moved to go into the hut.

Sam moved swiftly toward the opening of the canyons and shuddered. There was a bleak and desperate feeling that came over him as he looked over toward the entrance to the Canyons. It had been steeped in shadow and the hair on the back of his tan neck stood up. He moved his hand and saw that the shadows danced along his fingers. He felt the cold swirl around each digit. "Who are you?' He asked as a pair of eyes formed to stare into his. He cringed back as the shadow began to speak.

"I am who I am. A warning, for you Chief of the blood clans. A warning, although your attempts will be in vain. As a courtesy to your clan. The child of the Shadows has been born. The babe to conquer all is here and you shall grovel at his feet!" It said with a raspy voice. "Take what you will from this conversation, Great Chief, but know that there is nothing you can do. Take solace in your loved ones; for it will be that last peace you will know."

"Even the people of the Shadowlands know better than to cross a Blood Rite, you will understand the message of war you have delivered. We shall not be defeated by a bunch of cowards that worship a tree." Sam's voice was the epitome of calm and collected, although inside his skin he squirmed. "The Blood Clans will never bow to a Shadow."

"You will bow or you will break. The choice is yours." The Shadow said before it dispersed and the canyon light up with sunlight.

Sam knew he had to tell the Elders and knew this was going to be a long day.

**A/N: New kinds of magic. kind of exciting to see Sam get all revengey! I love it!**


	5. Chapter 4: The Earth Moves

**The Southern Point**

**Maverick's Glen**

The hot sun shone down on the glen as a young man pushed his flock farther down the way. He knew all the grazing spots for them and which ones would be the best. He smirked as the young woman next to him spoke animatedly about her training and how well she had been doing. "I'm glad you're doing better than you had when you first started, Kimberly. It's a good thing, my darling, to improve one's self-confidence. You can only get better." The young man said as the two of them came to stop and he knocked the staff in his hand twice on the ground and the flock stopped in their spots. They all looked to their master and with a nod they all began to eat.

"Jared Cameron, don't try to butter me up. I know that you had all your training finished when you turned twelve, but I am trying my best." She replied with a secretive smile.

He went to answer when a disturbance at the end of the glen caught his attention. His demeanor changed in an instant. "Kim, take the flock home. I'll meet you there, my darling. I'll return soon." Jared ordered as Kimberly, who had never seem him this way, only nodded and took his staff. She knocked the staff on the ground three times to get the flock going. Each of them looked to her and she motioned for them to return back towards the village.

The moment he knew they were all gone, Jared swirled his hand and felt the earth shift under his feet. The movement, only a small movement from his hand, had jettisoned him across the entire glen to reach the barrier. In the distance he could see the shadows of the Shadowlands. It unnerved him to know they were closer now. The Shadows had been growing as of late, he knew it. He looked up to see a shadow advancing toward the barrier. The moment it came to a halt just a breath shy of the barrier. His eyes widened a fraction before he shook himself of the unwanted shiver that seemed to take hold of him. The cold eyes of the shadow landed on his and an involuntary breath had been forced from his lungs as the creature twisted in and of itself. "What do you want, shadow?" Jared's deep baritone sounded out. The bass of his voice boomed off of the glen's stone walls. His eyes never left the creature before him.

The sharp incisors of the creature's mouth gleamed in the light that touched it. "A declaration of war. The child has been born. Try to keep out the darkness now. The shadows will consume your heart and soul. You will become one of us in time." The raspy voice picked at Jared's nerves.

Not once had the creature broke his stare.

It unnerved him more than he would admit.

He knew that this was the last vestiges of peace.

He just knew it.

**A/N:Chapter 4: And things are getting interesting. And a newcomer:::who'd have thunk it.**


	6. Chapter 5: Can You See?

**Center**

**The Homeland Crater**

Leah Clearwater looked around as her brother screamed in glee as she caught him. She knew that they were in the center of their world. She smiled when she picked up her brother of only six years old. She knew this moment of peace was about to shatter.

She felt a shudder creep up her spine and a tingle on the back of her neck. Her little brother looked up to his sister, who seemed frozen, to ask a question. Her eyes were wide and it frightened him. He moved back slowly as he watched his sister's eyes glaze over and gasped when she fell to her knees. He had no idea what was going on, so he did the only thing he could think of; he ran to their father with tears in his eyes.

"Papa! Papa!" Leah's younger brother, Seth, screamed as he ran toward their hut. His legs carried him as fast as he could. All the while his tears streaked down his face in fear.

"What, boy? I could hear you just fine. What is it?" A tall, burly man of forty five years asked his youngest child. His dark brown eyes widened at the sheer terror that was upon his young one's face. "What's happened, Seth? Where is your sister? Where's Leah?"

Seth tried to stop his cries, but could not seem to calm himself. He did the only thing he could, he pointed toward the back lawn.

Seth and Leah's father, Harry Clearwater, followed his son's hand and saw his daughter, his only daughter, on her knees and her eyes unseeing. He knew what was happening and cursed the child's mother. He knew now that the child took after her mother more than she did him. Her beauty he knew would make them all question her parentage, especially her deep chocolate tresses. The deepest and sweetest of chocolate would be shamed if next to her full head. Her eyes the color of deepest ocean blue. It pained him to know that their people would cast her from the village. He had hoped that her hair would be as bright as her brother's. The blonde that claimed him and the rest of the village, aside from Leah. His heart ached at the thought of not being able to see his only daughter thrive in their village, but knew if this ever got out that she would be ostracized and forced to leave all she had ever known.

Slowly he moved closer to her still form. She was so still it scared him to even be near her, yet he knew when she came out of the trance she would need him. Her mother was the same way.

He knew the moment she came back to him because she looked around in fright. Finally after a moment her eyes focused on him and she launched herself toward him. "Oh, Papa! I'm so frightened! They're coming! They're coming!" She cried as she held onto him for dear life.

Harry took a deep breath and hugged his daughter to him carefully, yet firmly. "What did you see?"

She looked at him in wonder and fear. "The shadows have expanded. WE need to flee." She said in a shaky voice.

"Truly? It has been twenty years since those of the shadows have emerged." Harry said, mainly to himself, as he stroked his daughter's hair.

"They're coming to conquer, oh Papa! We must flee! It has begun, the child has been born!" Leah said in an urgent manner.

Knowing he needed to heed her words he nodded. The village will fall, he knew it. Other than his precious daughter, there were no Rites in the village. They were merely a farming village. He knew his best and that of his children were to leave the city at night, when no one would know.

"Let us make haste, my darling daughter, we must pack up everything. We'll leave for your mother's home tonight. They will welcome us. You are one of them." Harry said as he knew that this would be a chance to see his dear Sandeen once more.

"Where are we going papa?" Came little Seth's voice from beside them. He hiccupped as Harry pulled the little boy into the embrace.

He looked to his little family and noticed his daughter of seventeen shook in fear. Still traumatized by the vision she had received. He thought back to when her mother had left him, like a thief in the night, and spirited away from their home.

Seth had been a by-product of a drunken night, but he could not think of a world where his little one was not in it.

The boy's mother had succumbed to a fever on the birthing bed and died the very night she had given birth. It was she that named him and he would honor her wishes as she had ushered in this little soul.

Harry then looked to his son's bright sky blue eyes and answered honestly. "We leave for the Covenant Hills tonight."

Seth then looked to his sister and then his father. His little hand came up to stroke his frightened sister's cheek. "It'll be alright, Leah, don't cry." Seth's little voice pulled Leah from her own mind and made her focus.

She gave him a small warm smile. Her brother, the brave knight. "Thank you, little one." She responded and opened her arms to him. To which he just jumped into them.

Harry held back his emotions and placed his arms around his little family. He knew their only chance was to make it to the Covenant Hills. It would be a four day journey, but he knew they would make it.

**A/N: so this is all for now...will pick back up when i can. just thought i'd give you a little somehting to read.**


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